Ireland - Worse than Romania?

If this report, seen on p.ie, on living standards and quality is to be believed, Ireland is a worse place to live than Romania.

http://www.il-ireland.com/il/qofl2008/

There are a lot of other countries placed above Ireland where I would not particularly care to live. Having said that, the 0 for cost of living seems to be a misprint. Mind you, so does the 85 for Health. Interesting reading nonetheless. As I have a personal interest in Switzerland, I was intrigued to see that the 100 for Economy was the only maximum awarded in this category.

Slim Buddha wrote:

If this report, seen on p.ie, on living standards and quality is to be believed, Ireland is a worse place to live than Romania.

http://www.il-ireland.com/il/qofl2008/

There are a lot of other countries placed above Ireland where I would not particularly care to live. Having said that, the 0 for cost of living seems to be a misprint. Mind you, so does the 85 for Health. Interesting reading nonetheless. As I have a personal interest in Switzerland, I was intrigued to see that the 100 for Economy was the only maximum awarded in this category.

I took a look at this too. We were top in Freedom, whatever that means. The zero seems to tally with other reports suggesting that Ireland has the highest cost of living in Europe. Food, for example, is about 30% more expensive than the UK.

Tax cuts, wage increases, shipping costs and our small scale presumably account for a lot of it.

cactus flower wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

If this report, seen on p.ie, on living standards and quality is to be believed, Ireland is a worse place to live than Romania.

http://www.il-ireland.com/il/qofl2008/

There are a lot of other countries placed above Ireland where I would not particularly care to live. Having said that, the 0 for cost of living seems to be a misprint. Mind you, so does the 85 for Health. Interesting reading nonetheless. As I have a personal interest in Switzerland, I was intrigued to see that the 100 for Economy was the only maximum awarded in this category.

I took a look at this too. We were top in Freedom, whatever that means. The zero seems to tally with other reports suggesting that Ireland has the highest cost of living in Europe. Food, for example, is about 30% more expensive than the UK.

Tax cuts, wage increases, shipping costs and our small scale presumably account for a lot of it.

I think the 67 for Economy and 57 for Infrastructure are a damning indictment of the 11 years of FF/PD rule. An unprecedented boom, unlikely to ever becoming near to repeated, was wasted. These two figures should be much higher. Everything was geared towards the economy, or so we were told. And the figure of 67 is poor by any yardstick.

It makes for very discouraging reading.

To the best of my memory, Ireland was coming at or near the top of this type of table in the early 2000s? The cost of living score is knocking us way out of kilter and needs to be dealt with immediately.

i'd reckon we'd lose to romania. the italia 90 team were class and there's no way we;d be able to make the world cup finals never mind the knockout stages with our current team.

AIDS-ridden, criminal and unequal South Africa is a better place in which to live than Ireland, come on. This list is total nonsense.

The UN's Human Development Index and the EIU's Quality of Life Index and global happiness surveys are far better indicators than this rubbish survey.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The UN's Human Development Index and the EIU's Quality of Life Index and global happiness surveys are far better indicators than this rubbish survey.

I have to agree with you that there is not a lot of sense on weighting down a State with a perhaps marginally higher cost of living than the european mean by 100 points.

Do you have the other indices to compare, Ard Taoiseach?

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The UN's Human Development Index and the EIU's Quality of Life Index and global happiness surveys are far better indicators than this rubbish survey.

I have to agree with you that there is not a lot of sense on weighting down a State with a perhaps marginally higher cost of living than the european mean by 100 points.

Do you have the other indices to compare, Ard Taoiseach?

Yep

EIU

HDI

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The UN's Human Development Index and the EIU's Quality of Life Index and global happiness surveys are far better indicators than this rubbish survey.

I have to agree with you that there is not a lot of sense on weighting down a State with a perhaps marginally higher cost of living than the european mean by 100 points.

Do you have the other indices to compare, Ard Taoiseach?

Yep

EIU

HDI

Great stuff Ard Taoisech, thanks. I see that poor old Iceland was top of the human development index 2006-7. I hope they can stay up near the top, and Ireland too.
Have you read about the interesting phenomena in which Irish people have one of the best perceptions of being healthy, irrespective of reality? Is that, or is it not, a reason to be cheerful

cactus flower wrote:

Great stuff Ard Taoisech, thanks. I see that poor old Iceland was top of the human development index 2006-7. I hope they can stay up near the top, and Ireland too.

Well it is a list up which Ireland has been travelling so we should stay within the top ten over the next couple of years and, as we recover from the downturn in the economy, I can see us actually topping the list overall.

Quote :

Have you read about the interesting phenomena in which Irish people have one of the best perceptions of being healthy, irrespective of reality? Is that, or is it not, a reason to be cheerful

I haven't read about it but, on reflection, it is a reason to be cheerful. We have a positive outlook on life and it is essential we retain an essential positivity during this cloudy economic patch. We need it so that we have the mental capacity to recover ourselves from the troubles in which we find ourselves.

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The UN's Human Development Index and the EIU's Quality of Life Index and global happiness surveys are far better indicators than this rubbish survey.

I have to agree with you that there is not a lot of sense on weighting down a State with a perhaps marginally higher cost of living than the european mean by 100 points.

Do you have the other indices to compare, Ard Taoiseach?

The Mercer's Quality of Life survey is one of those I trust implicitly, cactus flower.

(For obvious reasons, you may think!)

http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving

Slim Buddha wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The UN's Human Development Index and the EIU's Quality of Life Index and global happiness surveys are far better indicators than this rubbish survey.

I have to agree with you that there is not a lot of sense on weighting down a State with a perhaps marginally higher cost of living than the european mean by 100 points.

Do you have the other indices to compare, Ard Taoiseach?

The Mercer's Quality of Life survey is one of those I trust implicitly, cactus flower.

(For obvious reasons, you may think!)

http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving

Zuri's a grand auld place but I am at home in Dublin and the city fills me with an almost indescribable sense of satisfaction which will trump all other factors in making me extremely happy to be living in my city. Every day I look at Dublin and find a new and lovely aspect of it. It's great.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Slim Buddha wrote:

cactus flower wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

The UN's Human Development Index and the EIU's Quality of Life Index and global happiness surveys are far better indicators than this rubbish survey.

I have to agree with you that there is not a lot of sense on weighting down a State with a perhaps marginally higher cost of living than the european mean by 100 points.

Do you have the other indices to compare, Ard Taoiseach?

The Mercer's Quality of Life survey is one of those I trust implicitly, cactus flower.

(For obvious reasons, you may think!)

http://www.mercer.com/qualityofliving

Zuri's a grand auld place but I am at home in Dublin and the city fills me with an almost indescribable sense of satisfaction which will trump all other factors in making me extremely happy to be living in my city. Every day I look at Dublin and find a new and lovely aspect of it. It's great.

I am not knocking Dublin, Ard, not in the least. Mind you, it seems to have become a bit more uncomfortable since yesterday afternnoon.